together we're heavy

i thought this link might help explain... http://www.ovenbuns.com/3d-ultrasound-articles/ultrasound-terminology.htm

ultrasound and sonogram the same thing? click the link to see!

here are 2 extremely grainy pics of the ultrasound. the blob on the upper right is the baby!

sorry, sorry for my tardiness! yesterday was the big dr's appointment. we didn't get the sono, but we did have the ultrasound and got to see the baby's heartbeat! and YES, there is only 1 baby! phew! we were both relieved. twins would have been cool, but a handful. anyway, this is the first time we had met our doctor, and we were both really pleased. she is very nice and was informative. we've known for over a month that i was pregnant, but it really sunk in once we saw that little blob on the screen and saw it's little heart beating away. there isn't really much more to tell other than that they did all the normal tests and took all the normal samples. nothing too exciting. it seemed like we did more waiting than we did spend time with the nurse/doc, but all in all, it was great anyway. it really cemented the fact that in march we'll be parents! dr. robbins said that at our next appointment, that ultrasound will give us a better idea about when the baby will actually be due, and that time we will get to hear the heartbeat and not just see it! i will try to post a picture of the ultrasound here. next appointment 8/29! olivia, can't wait to hear what your news is! :)

TOMORROW is dr. day! yay! i almost called it "d-day", but i thought that might not be appropriate...
i'm so excited/nervous/excited! can anyone think of any all-important questions we need to ask while we're there? i can't really think of anything else to say about the dr. appt., except that we can't wait. i hope i can sleep tonight! for the past few nights, i have been having really vivid dreams and i keep waking up, but all in all, i have been sleeping pretty well.
i also wanted to mention the title of this post...if we are having a girl you can "bet your bottom dollar" that she will be introduced to annie right away (the musical and the movie versions). maybe we can act it out together like my sister and i used to do, except i won't make her be the dog like steph made me! our kid might even have red hair...oh the possibilities.

the names have been determined...and we have also decided to keep them a secret. sorry to disappoint, but we want to have some element of surprise for everyone! i think everyone will like what we picked though! :)
i was talking with a friend today about the old wives' tales and both agreed that you can put some stock in them, but either way, you have a 50/50 shot at being right! i am honestly ok with girl or boy, but olivia, i really hope you are having a girl, since it seems to be your heart's desire! i know you'll be happy either way though!
i was thinking last night about what our baby might look like. i think it's a total crapshoot, because my sister and brother in law (red hair and black hair, respectively) have a very blonde son (and a redheaded girl). i am thinking dark hair and light eyes for ours, but as steph & nick proved, what you look like really makes no difference at all sometimes! we'll just have to wait and see! such a long wait...but well worth it!

i know i will probably irritate a bunch of people, but i can not stand heidi of "what to expect" fame! i get her "daily updates" and she tells us pregnant women things like "your hair is growing out of control right now!"~no. she also says your fingernails will grow uncontrollably too...again, no. today's tip was about not doing strenuous excercise, and to get her full newsletter, you have to become a site member, and pay a FEE. i am not giving that woman one more undeserved dime! i know a lot of people live & die by this woman, but i just can't jump on her bandwagon. her "expertise" comes from nothing other than her being a pregnant person at one time. so, in that case, we should all be writing books after we give birth. interesting concept.
on a much sweeter note (dare i say i am having pregnancy crankiness?), yesterday, for my birthday, elliott got me a full foot care kit, along with a little massager that he is going to use on my feet every night! they're not even close to being big & swollen yet, but he's thinking ahead! it came with a cooling spray for those tired, swelled feet, a pumice & a pumice scrub, foot soak salts, and a cool minty cream! it will all come in handy. what a sweetheart! i also got an enormous yellow submarine shirt so i could have something "cool" to wear when i am in full maternity gear. he even got the baby a birthday gift: a stormtrooper onesie, and although it's blue, it will be on our child, boy or girl! i'm also seeing this or this in the child's future "gifts from dad"! my husband is the greatest!

i am discovering that preparing for the baby seems like a bit of an albatross at this point. i already know what we want to do with the room (pretty much), because we picked something gender neutral, but actually doing it is going to be a monumental task. first, we will have to remove all of the things currently in the room. this room houses our recording studio, and many records, along with a lot of crap we just don't know what to do with. then comes the task of taking down the fabric wallpaper that is stapled into the wall, THEN possibly removing the wallpaper underneath. woah...i am tired just thinking about it.
we will also have to find a new home for the studio, which i think will fit nicely into either living room, so it's not that much of an issue. i was thinking we could make the front living room a play room. we already have it decorated with our collectibles, which the baby/kid will enjoy, and have a big shelving unit that has a lot of blank space perfect for toys, etc.
i also want to reorganize our book/dvd/crap shelves and have one for kid oriented books/movies, another for our movies, and another for books. this will take my analness to a new level, but it has to be done. right now, everything is organized by "where is there space to fit this box of stuff?"...so i guess the nesting thing is going to kick in early. better that it kick in now than in january when i will be huge!

i've noticed in the past few days that the initial "wanting to eat everything in sight" has gone away somewhat. i am enjoying eating the main meal of the day at lunch, then at dinner, i am not so hungry. i am also really enjoying soup. i like soup normally, but it's not something i think about EVERY DAY, especially in july with the sun beating down on me.
i haven't been sick at all, but as i commented earlier, the "look" of things can bring on queasiness. i forgot to mention that at the same grocery store trip, elbow macaroni salad looked horrifying. i had to get some gatorade after seeing it. well, i think that was just because i was dying of thirst and i didn't see that they had cold water available, only gatorade. it tasted GREAT. o, are you thirsty too? i have been drinking the 8 glasses of water a day, and trying to have little more than that because of the frequent trips to the bathroom that it brings, but man! i am so thirsty! i have to have more!

i have been tearing up at everything lately. the other day i heard "isn't she lovely?" on the way to work and was trying hard not to openly cry while driving. i knew this would hit, as i am a pretty sensitive person anyway (don't be too quick to attest to this, EVERYONE), but dang! elliott's been working on a new song, and yesterday i said, "you should write a song for the baby," and he replied, "i already did! you know that song i've been working on?"...and i started crying.
the babies are the size of lentil beans now and will become chick peas by next wednesday...isn't that amazing? speaking of, i did get a good laugh last night when elliott spoke into my stomach and said, "lentil, i am your father." hahahahaha

i don't understand food anymore. i don't see how anyone in their right mind could look at a container of yogurt & some bbq baked lays and think they would taste great together, yet this thought entered my mind, and at work, for god' sake. this baby wants what it wants, i guess. lately it has been asking for chips & salsa, and i have been obliging. today i have been good & given it a baked potato & some multgrain pancakes with bananas and granola! YUM! we are going to a party tonight though, so baby, get ready to meet your first hot dog.

my friend was telling me that i would immediately start wanting food in the middle of the night, but thankfully, i am back to my good sleeping habits! i have always been a person who can sleep in a coma like state for 8-9 hrs. i think it was just the initial excitedness/nervousness of being pregnant for the first time that i was having sleep troubles. i haven't even been getting up in the night to go to the restroom anymore! i know this will hit later, so i am grateful to have a break for now.

i am so freaking anxious for my first doctor's appointment! it can not get here fast enough. that is the date going through my head...and i will have a birthday first! and when i think of that, i think "oh yeah, and when it's my birthday, 8 more days until the doctor." i see this as good because maybe it means that even before the baby comes, i am already starting to be selfless...HA!

we are debating on whether or not to share names. 1) we're not sold on a girl's name yet (thankfully we have a while) and 2) i don't want people making fun or "disagreeing"...last time i checked, this was our baby & we can name it whatever we want!!! so, if we decide to share, all i ask is that you, the reader, be kind.

we hereby concede the name "amelia" to olivia & jerome. you are right, our list is long & this is the ONLY name you want! if your baby is a boy though, do we get it back? haha. speaking of, i like gabriel the best of your choices, in case you are interested. i have one girl name stuck in my head right now...but again, TRYING to keep it a secret (olivia, i will email you with this info later).
the weight gain monster will rear it's ugly head on both of us. i have stopped feeling hungry ALL THE TIME, but i am snacking more & have a heartier appetite. i am trying to eat lower fat foods still too...too bad to hear that it doesn't keep the lbs. from packing on. gaining weight will be a hard pill for me to swallow after just losing 30 lbs. to gallbladder surgery & changing to a low fat "lifestyle", but it's for a good cause. i'm still nervous about having that gigantic baby though. as julie, my cousin, put it, when she was pregnant it looked as if she was hauling around a VW bus...NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
today is the first morning i have felt any nausea at all. it has been cured with toast, thankfully.

olivia's dr. thinks she's gonna be due the first week of may! WOW! the ticker is right for both of us (although i still think i will have this baby earlier than predicted, but i guess we'll see for sure with the first trip to the doc). how unusual that these babies really could be born on the same day! very cool.
i was able to add the ticker so we can count down the days. 245...seems like a lot!!! jeez.
kudos to my mom for figuring out how to post comments. it's been a task, i know. :)

i have been getting this lately, which is funny, because i am pretty sure at this stage of the game, the baby doesn't even know what it is. my instinct is telling me girl, but then, whenever someone is pregnant, i always think it's a girl. i don't think i have been right yet, except for my friend janel. i had my sister's first child pegged 'girl' from day 1 (i think she did too). in my head she was going to be "molly". not to be...instead she had connor, then kaitlyn. what happened to MY name (hehe)!?! the most perplexing thing about having a girl is deciding on a girl name. elliott and i have had the boy name picked out for years. it's pretty much a done deal. the girl, however, has a list of about 20 names. i guess we shall see in a few months if my "instinct" is right, but so far i don't have a great batting average. so, o, what do YOU think it is (mine & yours)? i think yours is another boy, but obviously, don't take too much stock in that.

yesterday, elliott & i went to visit my cousins who were in town (one lives about 1 hr. away, and the others were visiting from NYC & edmund, ok. janelle, the youngest of the sisters is engaged & getting married in feb. (yay!), and julie & jennifer (the identical twins that make me think? fear? that i could be a mother of 2 at once) have both had children within the last year. they were filling me in on everything i could expect. i'll give you a quick recap: going to the bathroom more than i already have been while pregnant; crying uncontrollably for no particular reason; and my biggest fear: giving birth to a "beaty-sized" baby. this one i must explain further. my dad was the biggest baby ever born at st. mary's hospital in KC-11 lbs. his brothers, who are twins-we have many in my family :O, weighed 16 lbs. together. a normal set of twins apparently should weigh about 8 lbs.!! julie & jennifer's last babies both weighed a significant amount too! yikes! what does this mean for me?!?!? ahhhhhh! it's fruit, veggies, and lean meats from now on...but i really want to go dive in to the left over potato salad.
4 more pickles last night...i really despise being cliche, but mmmmmmmmmmmm...
can't wait to hear the results of the sono from olivia on tuesday!!! lucky duck! me, still waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the end of july to get here as quickly as possible (not going to happen) for my first visit!
happy 4th to everyone!

everyone keeps asking me how i feel, and i have to tell them "fine". i am not sick at all...so far. i am glad for this, but i wish people would quit making me feel like i should be throwing up daily. oddly enough, i am normally the first person to get nauseated (ok, so that was when i had gallstones), dry heave at something disgusting, or actually throw up (usually because of a migraine)...but since i have been pregnant i have had one massive headache that didn't make me throw up and was cured with a snuffer's burger. go figure.
olivia posted a comment about seeing how many pickles we eat...last night i had 4. now, i like pickles normally, but they did taste better than usual...it's probably a mental thing. the one thing i have noticed that is odd is that i wake up every morning starving for a chicken sandwich or tacos...not cereal & toast...FOOD! i refrain from actually buying tacos at 7:00 AM, but i am not sure how much longer i can hold out.
i read yesterday that the baby is the size of a sesame seed & now has a little, bitty heart! aw!